Projects and Products to Make the World a Happier Place. Jennifer Heynen designs sewing patterns, craft kits, quilting fabric, licenses her art to companies for Garden Flags, Bags, Accessories and more all in a Happy and Bright Style.

Jennifer Jangles

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Hope you had great holidays! I'm still taking a little break and hanging with my family, I'll be back to blogging, e-mailing, and more next week. Until then, enjoy the ruffled bib pattern here on the blog. I've got loads of free projects on the the right hand side of the blog if you're looking for a new project.

I have a limited amount of fabric that I came across from the old gallery. It has been listed in the Etsy shop.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

OrnamentsSupplies:1 large ceramic pendant, 5" aluminum or other craft wire, 1-2 accent beads, round nose pliers, chain nose pliers, and wire cuttersInstructions:1. With your round nose pliers make a swirl at one end of your wire.2. Slide the wire through the hole of the pendant. Once through, bend the wire at a ninety degree angle so it is standing straight up from the ornament.3. Slide the accent beads onto the wire.4. With the round nose pliers again, make a small loop at the remaining end of the wire. Next, still holding the small loop curl the wire around to make a hook shape for hanging.Pendants in the Etsy Shop

Monday, December 17, 2012

Flower BraceletSupplies:1 domed ceramic flower button, 1 wood bead, approximately 20" waxed cotton cording, 1 clasp, 2 seed beads
Instructions:1. Begin by folding the cording in half. Approximately 1/4" past the fold tie a knot. (This is the loop the clasp will hook to.)
2. Determine the length you will want half of the bracelet to be (usually 3") Tie another knot here.
3. Slide the two ends of the cording through the backside of one of the buttons holes. Add the wood bead and then send the ends back through the button. Tie a knot snug against the back of the button.4. Measure the cording to make the second side of the bracelet the same length as the first. Tie the clasp onto the bracelet at this point.
5. Trim the cord ends to approximately 1" and adde a seed bead to the cord. Secure with a knot.Shop for kits

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Today I have a tutorial for you! There are a lot of folks out there terrified of putting zippers in bags. I promise you, this is an easy, easy method. There are lots of photos to follow so sit back and enjoy the project.

Start with one of the pieces of outer fabric. Place the zipper above the fabric so that both ends are extended past the edges of the fabric.

Flip the zipper over so that the zipper head is facing down, as shown in the photo.

Line the edge of the zipper up with the edge of the fabric. Pin in place.

Place a piece of the lining fabric, face down, on top of the pinned zipper. Make sure the outer and lining side edges are lined up. Pin the fabric in place.

Using your zipper foot on your sewing machine sew using a 1/4" seam allowance. The edge of your zipper foot should line up with the edge of your fabric.

This is what it should look like.

We've got half of the zipper in place! Yippee! Enough celebration, it's on to the next side.

Keeping the fabric pulled back from the zipper as shown in the last photo, lay the zipper onto the remaining piece of outer fabric. Once again make sure that the zipper head is facing down. Line up the side edges with all three fabrics as well.

Pin the zipper onto the outer fabric and then the remaining lining fabric to the zipper. The lining should be facing down as shown in the photo. Sew along this seam just as you did the first side of the zipper.

Now that your zipper is in place you can breathe a sigh of relief. You did it! Now it's on to the fun part, embellishing. Place 7" of ribbon about one third of the way down the bag and in in place. With the remaining ribbon slide the key ring on and fold in half. Pin this to the top side of the bag front. Make sure of two things; 1. the ring is facing in and is not within a 1/4" of the side 2. The ring is on the same side of the bag as the zipper pull. Last pin the ball trim across the bottom facing inward as well. Whew!

Sew everything in place. Now unzip the zipper 2/3's of the way.

Now arrange the bag pieces so the two outer bag pieces are right sides facing and the two lining pieces are right sides facing. Pin everything together. When you are ready to pin the zipper sides, fold them in half. Make sure that the teeth of the zipper are facing the outer bag fabric pieces. (see below)

Sew around all of the edges. Leave a three inch section at the bottom of the lining for turning.

Now let's clean this baby up! Clip the corners. Trim all of the excess ribbon, zippers, etc.

Turn the bag inside out. Before you stitch that opening closed, lets add the flower button.

I went to my scrap bin and found a piece of velvet and felt that coordinated. I placed the velvet behind the button and cut out the flower shape. Next I placed the felt behind the velvet and did the same thing. I sewed all three layers together and then tacked it to the bag. While you have your needle and thread out, sew the opening closed in the lining. Push the lining into the bag and you're all set!

I hope you have fun making lot's and lot's of the bags. Please let me know if you try this how-to, I would love to hear about your experience.

Friday, December 14, 2012

I feel like I've been in hiding lately. Holiday projects ended last week. They are so much fun to plan and send out but every year when they are over I need an Internet break. So if you haven't seen me much on the blog, on facebook, or on twitter it's my break time. I'll be back soon, I promise.

I have been working though...I have been painting all week. It's been so much fun, up there's a little snippet of a design I'm working on. It's a series of three little girls and I am still tweaking so I am not ready to show the whole shebang yet. Hoping to get them finished up soon.

Erin over at the Art Bead Scene made up a super cute ornament with my ceramic star beads. She's got the how-to here.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Supplies:2 ceramic Chevron stamped beads , 4 accent beads, 2" brass eye pins, 2 brass ear hooks, round nose pliers, chain nose pliers, and wire cutters.Instructions:Begin by stringing two accent beads onto one of the eye pins. Leave approximately 5/8" of the eyepin sticking out and trim the remaining wire. With the end of the wire in your round nose pliers, create a loop. Make sure the loop is large enough to hold the ceramic bead. Open the loop up, slide on the bead and close. Next, open the other eye loop, add the ear hook and close. Repeat for the second earring.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Lately I have had a bit of a coffee obsession on my mind. I sewed up this little mug rug out of some Japanese fabrics I had. If you follow me on instgram or on the blog over the years you've seen many photos of my coffee. Now For Christmas I really want one of these. I NEED to make chocolate whip cream for my mochas. :)

Thursday, December 6, 2012

My 24 hour sale is on, wahoo! It only runs until tonight at 9:00 pm EST. Use the code Jangles30 to receive 30% off at the web store or the Etsy shop.

The website is now just like the Etsy shop, if it's there, then it's in stock. That way I can do same day shipping just like the Etsy shop. Heck, I'll even combine orders if you place them at both shops.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Here's my last holiday project of the year. I made this little zippered stocking pouch just like I made my easy zipper pouch. The only difference is the shape. You can find the instructions for the zipper pouch here. A PDF of the stocking pattern piece can be found here. It's ready to print full size and ready to go.

Book: Sew Small

BOOK: Stitch Kitsch

BOOK: Extraordinary Colors

BOOK: Ceramic Bead Jewelry

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Jennifer Jangles uses affiliate programs from time to time for income. These are links that lead to Amazon, Craftsy, and others. This helps me be able to bring you free projects. I never link to anything that I don't personally use or recommend, you can be sure of that. I take this very seriously. As always, please contact me if you have questions.